AIG, A Shining Example of Superior Sales Skills (Really, these guys are good!)

I remain shocked as to the extent of the outrage over the recent audacity of AIG, and awarding over 150,000,000 in employee “retention bonuses” in the very division that drove the catastrophic need for AIG’s very bail-out.

Who would you rather hire as a salesperson, if given the option? The executives at AIG who negotiated these terms, or any of the clowns from the Treasury Department including Timothy Geitner???

In the winning category of “you just can’t make this garbage up”, our US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner states that they had to honor the previously agreed upon bonus arrangement to avoid the exposure to potential future lawsuits. While I understand his concern, I just can’t follow the logic.

If AIG should have been allowed to go under, which (THEY SHOULD BE A DEAD DOG NOW!!!), then most certainly the bonuses would not have been awarded. Why-BECAUSE THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO MONEY TO PAY THE BONUSES.
I’m trying to remember how many last minute bonuses was paid out at Enron, or WorldCom? However, since billions have been handed over to AIG, by you and me, then we most certainly should reward the very people whose arrogance, greeed, and absolute lack of oversight led us down this path.

In my community, we are closing schools due to lack of funding. There is inadequate funding across the board, for public works, infrastructure, and education. Teachers are being cut back, and everyone is being challenged for sacrifice to make it though these times.

Yet, in these times, AIG sold the government for the “Need” for these bonuses. – Isn’t this the same company that held a multi-million dollar spa retreat for “top performers” AFTER their first round of bailout money? Some say arrogant, some say pompous, disconnected, and just plain evil….I have a different perspective….these guys are good!

Let’s follow the tactics and strategy. It’s really all about negotiation skills and ultimately salesmanship. Can anyone guess who was one of the top donors to Congressman Chris Dodd (Democrat)-, who just happens to oversee the Committee ruling on these terms.
Well, look, it’s AIG? In a very surprising revelation, it looks like AIG’s top two candidate recipients in 2008, were Obama, and then Dodd? (That seems surprising, doesn’t it?) In a candid appearance this week, Mr. Dodd pointedly (and with indignant outrage), denounced the compensation package, and wondered how in the world this could have happened???

The very next day, Mr. Dodd admitted (to the very same reporter), that he was actually the one who approved the payouts. He admits he made a “little mistake” in not remembering correctly. Are you kidding me!!!……Democrat or Republican, the incestuous nature of these clowns should sicken us all. Mr. Dodd then decided to throw the Obama administration under the proverbial bus, by stating that it was the Treasury Department that had required that the approvals for the bonuses be included.

This leadership is inspiring. Is this the same Treasury Department that arbitrarily decided to let Lehman Brothers fail, but came to the rescue of the great partners from AIG? I wonder if campaign contributions, or perhaps Paulson’s old buddies from Goldman Sach’s had anything to do with that decision?

No, it is about salesmanship. AIG understands their customers buying and “decision making” process. Follow the money! They also adapt and stay flexible to the changing times and opportunities. AIG has been generous to Republicans and Democrats alike over the years, but they somehow seem very adept at shifting their bets in favor of the winning horses. While it may be arrogant, and unbelievably despicable to most Americans, one thing is clear.

If you need to get things done, who would you hire? A multi-millionaire executive from a failed AIG investment group, or Timothy Geithner?

Just something to think about…

GorillaDung- It's good to be back in the States! Life is good, and will be getting better!

What is this gorilla crap all about, and why should you care?

Greetings to all! Please allow me to introduce myself again for new readers. My name is Curt Redden.

My family and I have recently returned from living in China for the last few years.
My family includes my wife Abbey, my son Sam, and my daughter Aly. We also brought in tow a Golden Retriever named Ody, that we acquired in China. Our hopes were to save him in a “puppy outreach” program where we prevented him from being the main course at a local eatery. I had actually wanted to name him Commie Bastard, or “CB” for short, the family overruled me, making some weak case about political correctness.

By now, you are probably burning with curiosity over the purpose of this blog. What exactly is Gorilla Dung, and really why should you care about Dung in general?

Allow me to digress into fond remembrance of what life looked like we I left the US in the fall of 2006. Everybody seemed happy. Everybody seemed to have employment of some sort. The American dream was alive and well. You could accomplish anything. Real Estate was on fire. It seemed like you could buy a dumpy duplex one month, and flip it the next month for a 200K profit. What a freaking country! It didn’t seem to matter that a stripper from Lauderdale could get financed to buy an oceanfront home, or that an unemployed plumber could lease a new Mercedes, everybody was riding the wave of easy credit.

Fast forward a couple of years upon our return in January in 2009. The wave has crashed. I’m not sharing anything you don’t know. But I think I have a different perspective.

You see, in China millions are emerging into the middle class every year for the first time. While overly general, they are hard working people who desperately want (and are willing to work) for a better life for them and their families. Employees think nothing of working 7 days a week and long hours, knowing that the hard work will eventually pay off. Their children attend school longer than ours, and then amazingly spend 5-6 hours a day on homework. They study crazy stuff like, Science and Math. Multiple language training is a must, and everything is competitive in a chase to secure the coveted spots in University. They are hungry, and looking to carve a much bigger piece of the global pie.

The rough translation in Chinese for Gorilla is Xin Xin. As Mandarin is tonal, this also sounds like the rough sound of “Super Star”. The US has been the Superstar on the world stage for the last few decades. Unfortunately, the lights on that party are being switched off. It’s like a bar at closing time, drink em up, and get the hell out! It seems The Apes in Charge in the US, have made consistently bad decisions for us to reach this point. It doesn't matter, and I really don't care what side of the aisle you sit on. There has been unprecedented greed and bad judgment, that led us to the piles of Dung we currently see everywhere. Everybody’s pointing fingers, but the way I see it, you are being crapped on in a fairly balanced approach, so at least it is equally opportunity sludge.

A banking system that continued loaning money to people they knew could not, and would not ever be able to afford it. A government that actually created this fiasco by demanding banks relax lending standards to increase home ownership. Corporations that continue to maximize short term returns to shareholders, but are outsourcing the American dream to the rest of the world. A sense of entitlement and lack of personal accountability that almost make me want to go back to law school, and become a personal injury attorney. (Sorry, I was digressing again- I’ll be better after my medication).

Gorilla Dung will look to explore these issues. I will make every effort to update weekly, unless something urgent is happening like a good football game, or perhaps a relaxing colon hydrotherapy treatment. As my background is exclusively in Sales and Leadership training, I will exert a little effort to actually try to weave in best practices and tips for how we all can prosper in spite of the Apes in Charge.

Until next week, here is to a prosperous tomorrow for you all! I look forward to the journey.